Hydrocarbon fume suppression by higher vapor pressure temperature oils

ABSTRACT

Methods and compositions for suppression hydrocarbon fumes, and cooking oil fumes, by applying a non-volatile organic compounds having a vapor pressure temperature greater than the vapor pressure temperature of the hydrocarbon fume constituents, or cooking oil fume constituents; said compositions may include delivery vehicles such as 70% ethanol, or thixotropic lotions, to produce remediation formulations that may be sprayed or spread onto the surfaces from which the fumes are emanating; also included is an insect repellant, comprising non-volatile organic compounds having a vapor pressure temperature greater than the vapor pressure temperature of the human pheromones and body odors with attract biting insects.

RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application claims priority from Provisional Application U.S.60/647/953 file Jan. 28, 2005, entitled “Suppression of PetroleumHydrocarbon Fumes by Higher Boiling Point Oils”

FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The field of the invention is in environmental biotechnology, healthcare, and more specifically in consumer household products that aremarketed for elimination of noxious fumes from minor petroleumhydrocarbon spills

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Petroleum hydrocarbons such as home heating oil, diesel fuels andgasoline pose a serious challenge as environmental pollutants when theyenter the environment. Oil spills that occur in the open waters areprimarily dealt with by immediate and proper notification of agenciesthat require the responsible parties to take action as required bystatutes at the local and state levels. For major oil spills the oilpolluted areas must be cleaned up within 48 hours by government approvedimmediate response teams. These clean up efforts are monitored by theEnvironmental Pollution Agency (EPA) and must meet standard guidelinesfor attaining minimal residual oil levels.

Oil spills in open waters from tanker operations are regulated byinternational convention whether they occur as a accidental spill or byoil discharge from engine maintenance and machinery used in ordinaryship operations. The oil spill standard is set at less than 10 ppm seenin open waters as a slight oil sheen. All of these sources of oil spillscan indirectly result in minor petrolatum hydrocarbon oil contaminationof work clothes and skin by ship personnel. It is this latter source offumes that the present invention is directed.

Ganti, S in U.S. Pat. No. 6,267,888 discloses a method for removal offree-floating oil from water by biodispersion and bioutilization. Themethod employs a living mixture of bacterial species that have theability to utilize hydrocarbons as the only source of carbon in anoleophilic liquid vehicle that provides oil soluble source of nitrogenand phosphorus for the bacteria. In principle, petroleum hydrocarbonfumes are remediated by the bacteria consuming any residual oil.

U.S. Pat. No. 4,237,780 describes a method for disposal of hydrocarbonfumes through the use of a prefilter and filter made from wood chips andcarbonized wood chips, respectively. The primary or intended applicationof this invention is for use in paint spray booths to dispose of noxiousorganic solvents that contribute to air pollution. The use of fans tovent the fumes to the outside air is a common practice for hydrocarbonoil fumes in oil-polluted basements. Unfortunately, this practice rarelyis completely effective as oil residues can persist in porous concreteand wood that slowly r3eleases the fumes over long period of time.

Borden R C and Lee M D disclose in U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,960 a method forremediating aquifers and groundwater contaminated by toxic halogenatedorganic compounds, certain inorganic compounds, and oxidized heavymetals and radionuclides. They teach the use of innocuous oil preferablyedible food grade oil such as soybean oil, formulated in amicroemulsion. We include their literature reference list here by way ofits teaching that the use of vegetable oil is based on its supposedacceleration of reductive dehalogenation via a chemical reactionmechanism.

The aforementioned methods for treating hydrocarbon fumes are designedprimarily for remediation of either free-floating oil in water orhydrocarbon residues that have entered into aquifers and ground water.They do not address oil contamination of human body skin. In particular,the patent art does not pertain to methods for decontamination of oiland gasoline contamination of personal effects such as clothes,household or office furniture and carpeting. There also remains one ofthe problem of concern that is the focus in the present invention, i.e.,hydrocarbon fumes associated with minor home heating oil spills in homebasements, and commercial or private machine shops. Still another sourceof harmful petroleum fumes occurs during routine filling of autogasoline tanks and diesel oil spilled on hands and clothing during thefilling and maintenance of autos, road vehicle, recreational off-roadvehicles, pleasure boats, and ordinary household equipment such as lawntractors and other garden equipment.

In the case of gasoline spills on hands or clothing the gasoline fumespersist even after meticulous cleansing of the affected areas withordinary soap and water. This situation is all too frequent andunfortunately there is no available product on the market to meet thisunmet consumer need. Likewise in the case where homeowners areconfronted with noxious heating oil fumes due to oil furnace maintenancework, repairs or accidental spills, the fumes can permeate the entirehouse posing a serious health problem for the inhabitants. Typically,heating oil spills have been cleaned up with old rags, absorbent padsand wipes that may clean up the overt spilled oil but fail to eliminateoil fumes that remain in the concrete or sand surface. These unseen oilspills still emit noxious fumes and often require vacating the domicileuntil more extensive excavations and removal of contaminated materials.This can be costly and time-consuming form the homeowner and may posefuture problems to the homeowner in meeting petroleum oil spillstandards preparatory to resale of the property. Still another problemis the inadvertent contamination of furniture and household carpeting bypetroleum hydrocarbon oils. Ordinary detergent-based cleansers fail tocompletely eliminate fumes from these hydrocarbon oil spills as long asthey remain embedded in the soiled material.

Many household products are available to rid malodors arising frommicrobial action on organic wastes associated with bathrooms andkitchens. They generally provide a temporary solution by maskingmalodors through devices that release of a pleasing scent or fragrance.The most common method listed by a recent survey in Happi (Household andPersonal Products Industry Magazine, September, 2004) is the burning ofscented candles, followed closely by scented air fresheners. Again,these methods do not suppress malodors or prevent their escape into theair.

The present invention discloses a novel and unobvious solution to minorpetroleum hydrocarbon fumes that not merely masks or perfumes the fumesbut permanently suppresses their vaporization from the oil-affectedsites.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides methods and formulations that effectivelysuppress petroleum hydrocarbon fumes. Various formulations of high vaporpressure temperature non-volatile organic compounds, such as fatty acidoils (certain alcohols and mineral oils, as described below), suppressthe fumes of lower vapor pressure temperature fume producinghydrocarbons. The non-volatile organic compounds may be applied “neat”(undiluted), or may be formulated into a spray, when mixed withappropriate vehicles, such as ethanol, acetone or methanol. Thenon-volatile organic compounds may also be formulated into “thixogel”lotion formulations. When applied to the source of the fume producinghydrocarbons, the non-volatile organic compounds suppress the fumes.

The fume suppression teaching of the present invention has applicationsbeyond the suppression of petroleum hydrocarbon fumes. The formulationsof the present invention may also be used to contain the odors of rancidor decarboxylated and esterified cooking oils and fats, such asbutylated stearic acid fats, on household, restaurant, or industrialkitchen surfaces. In particular, 12% oleic acid in 70% alcohol, iseffective when applied to cold cooking surfaces.

Another application of the present invention concerns an improvement ininsect repellents. While it is know that vegetable oils such as soybeanoil, can be as effective as DEET in some experimental studies (Fradin MS and Day J F, “Comparative efficacy of insect repellents againstmosquito bites, New Engl. J. Medicine 347:13-18, 2002), other volatilebotanicals were reported to be ineffective. The present applicationprovides an explanation for these results and suggests that use of fattyacid and vegetable oils with vapor pressure temperatures above 150degrees will be effective mosquito repellents. In particular, 12% oleicacid in 70% alcohol, is effective when applied to the exposed skin ofseveral human subjects.

For a full understanding of the present invention, reference should nowbe made to the following detailed description of the preferredembodiments of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a graphic representation of the correlation of vapor pressuretemperature and carbon atom chain length of various Hydrocarbons.

FIG. 2 is a graphic representation of the correlation of vapor pressuretemperature and carbon atom chain length of various Fatty Acids.

FIG. 3 is a Table of vapor pressure temperature of various hydrocarbons,including their carbon atom chain length.

FIG. 3 is a Table of vapor pressure temperature of various fatty acids,alcohols and mineral oil, including their carbon atom chain length.

FIG. 5 is a Table of the Fatty Acid Composition of Different Vegetableoils.

FIG. 6 is a Table of Fume Suppression Testing results.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention concerns methods and formulations that effectivelysuppress petroleum hydrocarbon fumes. The concept arose fromobservations made by the inventor that the application of a complexmixtures of bacteria in an oleophilic liquid vehicle to a plot of oilpolluted clay-rich earth quickly damped the fumes and replaced it with avegetable-like odor. These observations were repeated a number of timeand led to a quest to determine if a simpler system of vegetable oilshad the property of suppressing petroleum hydrocarbon fumes. This searchrevealed that fatty acid vegetable oils such as oleic acid were veryeffective in eliminating diesel oil fumes applied to various substrates.The scientific, technical and rational basis for this property wasfurther explored and a general principle emerged from these studies. Weformed the hypothesis that fume suppression occurred when oil with arelatively higher vapor pressure temperature (vpt, non-fume producer) isapplied to the surface of a lower vpt oil (volatile fume producer). TheChemical Rubber Publishing Company's Handbook of Physics and Chemistry,35^(th) Edition, 1953, defines vapor pressure temperature as the degreecentigrade at which the vapor of a compound (at one atmosphere, or 760mm of Mercury); and has the pressure indicated in a table of vaporpressure temperatures at pp. 2177-2225, for organic compounds with vaporpressures less than one atmosphere and carbon-atom chain length belowC29.

In the instance of diesel oil, the two major low vapor pressurecompounds responsible for the petroleum hydrocarbon fumes arenaphthalene (vpt=218 degrees C.) and dodecene (vpt=208 degrees C.). Theinventor discovered that immediate fume suppression occurred when a 12%emulsion of oleic acid in 70% ethanol was sprayed on sand saturated withdiesel oil. The vapor pressure temperature of oleic acid is 350 degreesC. The finding was generalized by graphically plotting on XY plane thevapor pressure temperature of saturated and unsaturated petroleum (fumeproducing) hydrocarbons against their carbon atom chain length (see FIG.1). A second graph was constructed of the vapor pressure temperature ofvarious saturated and fatty acid oils with carbon-atom chain lengthsfrom C6 to C20 (see FIG. 2). FIG. 3 is a table of vapor pressuretemperature of saturated and unsaturated petroleum (fume producing)hydrocarbons against their carbon atom chain length. The data in bold inFIG. 3 is that charted in FIG. 1. FIG. 3 also sets forth the vaporpressure temperature of various other common saturated and unsaturatedhydrocarbons. FIG. 4 is a table of vapor pressure temperature ofsaturated and unsaturated fatty acid oils, alcohols and mineral oilsuseful according to the present invention, against their carbon atomchain length. The data in bold in FIG. 4 is that charted in FIG. 2. FIG.4 also sets forth the vapor pressure temperature of various other commonsaturated and fatty acid oils, alcohols and mineral oil.

A rule of prediction was developed. In order to find a given fatty acidoil that will predictably-suppress the fumes of a particular petroleumhydrocarbon, reference is made to the vapor pressure temperature oftheir primary constituents. These values are founds in CRC Handbook ofChemistry and Physics, 35th Edition, pp 2177-2225). Once the primaryconstituent(s) is identified, and its vpt determined by reference to thechart, one may select a fatty acid, alcohol or mineral oil with anotably higher vapor pressure temperature. This is done by choosing ahigher vpt on in FIG. 2, FIG. 4 or the cited CRC table, and determiningthe fatty acid, alcohol or mineral oil. One can easily see that fornaphthalene and dodecene the right choice for a suppressing diesel oillies on the linear plot shown in FIG. 2 for fatty acid above C15 andabove. This method explains in simple mathematical terms the success ofapplying oleic acid to diesel oil fumes. The plots (FIGS. 1 and 2) wereemployed to conduct “proof-of-principle” experiments described inExample 2, below.

EXAMPLE 1 Diesel Oil Fume Suppression: Test System

A simple test system was devised to screen various fatty acid oils,vegetable oils, and Silicon oils. For this purpose, 35 grams of dry finesand was placed in a clean 150 mL plastic sample container with ascrew-capped lid. Pure diesel oil (2.0 mL) was carefully layered on tothe surface of the sand and the container capped to prevent further fumeloss. For the test control, 1.5 mL of water is was added to the dieseloil contaminated sand. For the experimental test, 1.5 mL of the chosenfatty acid or vegetable oil was carefully layered on to the diesel oilsoaked sand so as to cover the entire exposed surface area. The samplecontainer is capped to prevent further loss of fumes. The followingfatty acid and vegetable oils were tested for their fume suppressingproperties: oleic acid, linoleic acid, soy bean oil, corn oil, oliveoil, meadowfoam oil and Triacetin® (Eastman, Bristol, Tenn.). Thedifferent vegetable oils are comprised of different types and amounts offatty acids as shown in The table in FIG. 5 sets forth the differenttypes and amounts of fatty acids in soy bean oil, corn oil, olive oil,meadowfoam oil and Triacetin® (Eastman, Bristol, Tenn.).

The experimental test results for pure fatty acids and test vegetableoils are given in the table in FIG. 6. The sealed containers were openedat 30 minutes and at 24 hours, and a panel of five subjects were askedto first smell the positive control (diesel oil: water). All subjectshad no difficulty detecting the hydrocarbon fumes emanating from thecontrol. The subjects were then asked to open the experimental testcontainer and smell the vapors emanating from them. All subjects agreedthat the fatty acid and vegetable oils listed in Table 2 were negativefor diesel oil fumes. They did report the odor of the fatty acids andvegetable oils themselves but these were distinctly different from thenoxious diesel oil fumes. Neat mineral oil was also able to completelysuppress diesel oil fumes in the dry sand test.

EXAMPLE 2 “Proof-of-Principle” Experiment

The purpose of the proof of principle experiment was to test the conceptpresented above. According to this concept, suppression of hydrocarbonfumes can be achieved by choosing an oil that has a higher vaporpressure temperature than the vapor pressure temperatures of thecomponent compounds present in the petroleum hydrocarbon fumes. Fordiesel oil these were the vapor pressures of naphthylene and dodecene.As in Example 1, 35 grams of clean dry fine sand was placed in the 150mL plastic containers and 2.0 mL of diesel oil layered on the sand andthe containers sealed with a screw-capped lid. According to the datashown in FIGS. 1 and 2, suppressing oils must have a vapor pressuretemperature at 760 mm greater than the vapor pressure temperature ofnaphthylene or dodecene, or greater than 218 degree centigrade. This isclearly the case for the two fatty acids, oleic acid and linoleic acidwith carbon-atom chain lengths of C18, respectively. There is a slightlylower vapor pressure temperature for the unsaturated fatty acids of agiven carbon-atom chain length than their respective saturated fattyacids, but the vapor pressure temperature of naphthylene or dodecene aremore than 120 degrees centigrade greater than the vapor pressuretemperature of the diesel oil components. In another example, Meadowfoam oil, almost a pure C22 monounsaturated fatty acid; known as ErucicAcid, was expected to suppress diesel oil fumes and it did (see FIGS. 5& 6). Next by reference to FIG. 5 it can be seen that Olive oil containsmore than 86% oleic type fatty acids and is expected to suppress dieseloil fumes with a vapor pressure temperature greater than 300 degreescentigrade. Similarly, both soybean oil and corn oil contain more than84% oleic acid type fatty acids and are predicted to suppress diesel oilfumes as well as and olive oil. Triacetin, a kosher food grade syntheticfatty material has a higher vapor pressure temperature than diesel oiland likewise is predicted to suppress diesel oil fumes. Thus the resultsset forth in FIGS. 5 & 6 confirm the model predictions.

An oil that has a vapor pressure temperature lower, equal to or notsignificantly higher than diesel is predicted to fail to suppress dieseloil; fumes. This prediction was confirmed in a trial using the siliconeoil, dimethicone (Fluid 245, Dow Corning, Midland, Mich.); with a vaporpressure temperature below 210 degree centigrade, which, as predicted,failed to suppress diesel oil fumes in the dry sand experimental test.By contrast, the more viscous silicone oil, decamethylcyclopentasiloxane(Fluid 200-350CST, Dow Corning Midlands, Mich.) with an estimated vaporpressure temperature above 300 degrees centigrade readily suppresseddiesel oil fumes. In all case where suppression of diesel oil fumes wasimmediately observed, suppression lasted for greater than 24 hours.

EXAMPLE 3 Suppression of Volatile Fumes from Commercial Sources

There are many commercial products beside gasoline and diesel oils thathave a disagreeable hydrocarbon smell associated with their use. One ofthese is lubricating oils found in such products as “WD-40.” Consumersusing such products often end up with lubricating oils on their hands orclothes that literally many take days to wear off. Therefore, weexamined the fume suppressive effect of one aerosol spray formulationthat has successfully suppressed diesel oil fumes: Formulation A (12%Oleic acid in 70% ethanol) in a pump spray bottle.

For this purpose a “No-Mess Pen” WD-40 pen applicator with a depressibletip was employed to apply the WD-40. Within seconds after application ofthe WD-40 lubricating oil to different surfaces a strong and distinctiveWD-40 odor was detected. Formulation A was immediately applied to theaffected areas, including one test wherein the WD-40 lubricating oil wasapplied to the dorsal surface of a subject's hand. In all cases thedistinctive WD-40 hydrocarbon odor was immediately eliminated.Suppression was complete and long lasting. Simple washing of the handswith warm soapy water left the hands free of any odors. This test hasbeen repeated many times with identical results.

EXAMPLE 4 Fume Suppression of Fumes from Diesel Oil Soiled Carpets

Clean carpet samples measuring (2′×3′) with a polyester synthetic fiberpile was chosen as the test material. Spray formulations Formulation A,containing 12% oleic acid in 70% ethanol, and Formulation B, and a sprayformulation containing 10% soybean oil in 70% ethanol, were tested tosee if they completely suppress diesel oil fumes from a small knownamount diesel oil is applied to a measured circular carpet area.

Experiment 1: One (1.0) mL of diesel oil was applied to two separatecircular areas of 19.65 square inches each, of a carpet sample. The oilwas rubbed into the nap of the carpet with a glass rod and allowed toair dry of 30 minutes. Fumes were still overwhelmingly detectable at 30minutes and remain so for many weeks. One diesel oil soiled areas wasleft untreated; it served as a positive control. The second diesel oilsoiled carpet area was sprayed twice with 5 mL of Formulation A. Thistreatment regime was sufficient to cover the entire diesel oil soiledarea, and more importantly completely suppressed any fumes from thediesel oil soiled area. The suppression lasted several days. Severalrepetition of this experimental design gave similar results. It wassometimes necessary to have an additional spray treatment due tobreakthrough of diesel oil fumes from fibers that had not beencompletely exposed to the suppressive formulation.

Experiment 2: In this experiment the amount of diesel oil used to soilthe carpet was reduced to 0.2 ml, and Formulation B (10% soybean oilemulsion in 70% ethanol) replaced oleic acid as the spray formulation.Again, diesel oil was applied to two separate carpet areas measuringapproximately 19 square inches each. An aerosol spray of formulation Bwas applied to one of the diesel oil soiled areas, rubbed in with aglass rod. And air-dried for 30 minutes. It completely suppressed thediesel oil fumes relative to the untreated positive control carpet area.

Together, the results of experiments 1 and 2 confirm the prediction thata fatty acid (oleic acid), and a vegetable oil (soybean oil), both withvapor pressure temperatures well above diesel oil, suppress diesel oilfumes from diesel oil soiled carpets.

EXAMPLE 5 Test of Fume Suppressive Vegetable Oil Formulations on DieselOil Contaminated Human Skin

A fume suppressant hand lotion (Formulation C) was made according to themethods and compositions previously described (Wille, J J. “Thixogel, anovel topical delivery system for hydrophobic plant actives,” inDelivery System Handbook for Personal care and Cosmetic Products, MeyerR. Rosen (ed.), pp. 761-794, William Andrews, Inc; and U.S. patentapplication Ser. No. 10/873,590, filed Jun. 22, 2004, entitled “NovelTopical Delivery System for Plant Derived Anti-irritants”, andincorporated herein by reference). The oil phase of the thixotropicemulsion of Formulation C was composed entirely of soybean oil. Theresulting starch gel emulsion of the lotion of Formulation Cencapsulates the soybean bean oil phase.

In order to determine the efficacy of both the aerosol spray formulation(formulation B) and the newly formulated hand lotion (Formulation C), 10microliters of diesel oil was applied to the both the dorsal hand skinand the volar arm skin of several human subjects. The fumes arising fromboth skin sites was easily detectable in each subject. The diesel oilcontaminated hand skin was treated with the aerosol spray formulationand the volar arm skin was treated with the hand lotion. In all casesthere was an immediate and lasting suppression of fumes issuing from thediesel oil contaminated skin sites. This experimental design wasrepeated several times with identical results, indicating that petroleumhydrocarbon fumes due to contact of diesel oil with human skin can beeliminated by either an aerosol formulation containing a suppressivevegetable oil or a lotion containing a suppressive vegetable oil.

Other vegetable oils such as olive oil, meadowfoam oil and corn oil wereformulated as described above, substituted for the soybean oil phase ofthe hand lotion, and they performed equally well in suppressing dieseloil fumes on human skin.

EXAMPLE 6 Suppression of Volatile Oleophilic Vapors by OleicAcid-Containing Formulations

Gasoline is a volatile mixture of petroleum hydrocarbons, such asoctane, the major fuel component. Octane has a high flash point and avapor pressure temperature at 760 mm of (100-120 degrees Centigrade).Incidental contact with gasoline during routine auto gas fill-ups cancause breathing difficulties especially in a confined space such as theinterior of an auto. Removal of gasoline from hand skin is difficulteven with thorough washing with soap and water. In this example, 1.0 mlof gasoline was added a clean white cotton cloth and allowed to air dryin open air for one hour. The fumes from the gas-soaked cloth wereapparent even after 1 hour of air-drying. Formulation A containing 12%oleic acid in 70% ethanol was sprayed from a pump spray bottle on thoseportions of the gas-soaked cloth so as to cover entirely cover theaffected gas soiled cloth. Within minutes no more gas fumes could bedetected. This suppression lasted for up to 6 hours, when an additionalaerosol treatment immediately suppressed any further fumes for another24 hours.

EXAMPLE 7 Other Applications of the Fume Suppression Technology

The fume suppression technology of the present invention hasapplications beyond the suppression of petroleum hydrocarbon fumes.These include household, restaurant, or industrial kitchen surfacescontaminated with rancid or decarboxylated and esterified cooking oilsand fats. Many of these smells are unpleasant such as butylated stearicacid fats. Breakdown products of animal fats or oils from hightemperature cooking also produce unpleasant odors. Cooking surfacescontaminated with these breakdown products of animal fats can besuppressed by application of a fine aerosol spray of Formulation A (12%oleic acid in 70% alcohol) on to cold cooking surfaces.

Another application of the present invention concerns improvement ininsect repellent technology. Almost all present effective insectrepellents have DEET (N,N-diethyl-m-toluamide) as their activeingredient. It is know that vegetable oils such as soybean oil, can beas effective as DEET in some experimental studies (Fradin M S and Day JF, “Comparative efficacy of insect repellents against mosquito bites,New Engl. J. Medicine 347:13-18, 2002). Other volatile botanicals werereported to be ineffective. The present application provides anexplanation for these results and suggests that underlying reason forthe suppression of mosquito bites by soybean oil is accounted for by itsability to suppress a skin-derived fatty acid product that is attractiveto mosquitos and possibly other biting insects. The existence of humanpheromones is well established and their chemical identity is infat-soluble compounds with vapor pressure temperatures less than 150degrees centigrade. Therefore, the use of fatty acid and vegetable oilswith vapor pressure temperatures above 150 degrees are predicted to beeffective mosquito repellents. For this purpose, an aerosol spray havingthe composition of Formulation A was applied to the exposed skin ofseveral human subjects just prior to dusk and the subjects allowed tosit for 1 hour outside in an mosquito inhabited area. Several othersubjects without protection afforded by application of exposed skin toFormulation A were also grouped together with the Formulation A treatedsubjects. None of the Formulation A treated subjects received a singlemosquito bite during the trial period. By contrast two out of three ofunprotected subjects recorded one or more bites. These preliminaryresults support the proposal that fatty acids with a relatively highvapor pressure temperature are effective in suppressing skin-generatedvolatile “attractant

There has thus been shown and described a novel hydrocarbon fumesuppressant which fulfills all the objects and advantages soughttherefore. Many changes, modifications, variations and other uses andapplications of the subject invention will, however, become apparent tothose skilled in the art after considering this specification and theaccompanying drawings which disclose the preferred embodiments thereof.All such changes, modifications, variations and other uses andapplications which do not depart from the spirit and scope of theinvention are deemed to be covered by the invention, which is to belimited only by the claims which follow.

1. A method for suppressing petroleum hydrocarbon fumes comprising: a)identification of the primary volatiles responsible for the petroleumhydrocarbon fumes b) determination of the vapor pressure temperature foreach of the suspected primary volatiles with vapor pressures less thanone atmosphere, c) selection of a nonvolatile organic compound withvapor pressure temperatures that are at least 30 degrees centigradehigher than the highest vapor pressure temperature of the volatilecomponents of the petroleum hydrocarbon fumes, said nonvolatile organiccompound selected from the group consisting of fatty acids, alcohols,fats, mineral and vegetable oils, waxes, silicon oils. d) applying theremediation formulation to the petroleum hydrocarbon.
 2. The method ofclaim 1, further comprising the step of: combining a sufficient amountof the nonvolatile organic compound with a delivery vehicle therefore,selected from the group consisting of acetone, methanol, ethanol, fattyacid esters and alcohols of carbon chain length greater that 18; to formthe a remediation formulation; before applying to the petroleumhydrocarbon.
 3. A remediation formulation for suppressing the fumes of apetroleum hydrocarbon containing various fume producing constituents,said formulation comprising one or more fume suppressors selected fromthe group consisting of nonvolatile fatty acids, alcohols, mineral andvegetable oils, silicon oils with a vpt at least 30 degrees C. higherthat the highest vpt of the fume producing constituents.
 4. Theremediation formulation of claim 3, wherein more than % by volume of theselected fume suppressors have carbon atom chain lengths equal to orgreater than C18.
 5. The remediation formulation of claim 3, furthercomprising a delivery vehicle selected from the group consisting ofacetone, methanol, ethanol, fatty acid esters and alcohols of carbonchain length greater that 18, said delivery vehicle comprising between0.5 and 100% by volume? of the formulation.
 6. The remediationformulation of claim 3, wherein the selected fume suppressor is oleicacid.
 7. The remediation formulation of claim 5, wherein the selectedfume suppressor is oleic acid.
 8. The remediation formulation of claim6, wherein the oleic acid, present at between 5-15% (v/v) of theremediation formulation.
 9. The remediation formulation of claim 7,wherein the oleic acid, present at between 5-15% (v/v) of theremediation formulation.
 10. The remediation formulation of claim 7,wherein the delivery vehicle for the oleic acid is ethanol atconcentration greater than 50% (v/v) in aqueous solution.
 11. Theremediation formulation of claim 3, wherein the fume suppressor isselected from the group consisting of: soybean oil, olive oil, corn oil,and meadowfoam oil, nonvolatile, biodegradable oils and edible oils. 12.The remediation formulation of claim 3 formulated as topical sprays,lotions, creams and gels for application to the human skin to suppressvolatile hydrocarbon fumes, said formulation comprising a deliveryvehicle comprising ethanol, stearate and palmitate esters, and alcohols.13. A method for suppressing fumes from rancid fats comprising: a)identification of the primary volatiles responsible for the rancid fatfumes b) determination of the vapor pressure temperature for each of thesuspected primary volatiles with vapor pressures less than oneatmosphere, c) selection of a nonvolatile organic compound with vaporpressure temperatures that are at least 30 degrees centigrade higherthan the highest vapor pressure temperature of the volatile componentsof the rancid fat fumes, said nonvolatile organic compound selected fromthe group consisting of fatty acids, alcohols, fats, mineral andvegetable oils, waxes, silicon oils. d) combining a sufficient amount ofthe nonvolatile organic compound with a delivery vehicle therefore,selected from the group consisting of acetone, methanol, ethanol, fattyacid esters and alcohols of carbon chain length greater that 18; to formthe a remediation formulation; before applying to the petroleumhydrocarbon, and e) applying the remediation formulation to the rancidfat.
 14. A composition for suppressing fumes due to rancid fats such asbutylated fats and fatty acids, and partially decarboxylated breakdownproducts of edible fats and cooking oils, for the decontamination ofcooking surfaces, kitchen appliances, and other surfaces soiled withdecomposed cooking fats and oils, said composition comprising theremediation formulation of claim
 3. 15. An insect repellant comprisingthe remediation formulation of claim 3, applied topically to the skin,to prevent volatilization of skin-generated pheromones attractive tomosquitoes and other biting insects.